


What Goes Around

by LytynUponCerellia



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe - Post-Canon, Canon Era, Humor, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-03
Updated: 2017-04-03
Packaged: 2018-10-14 13:38:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,083
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10537599
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LytynUponCerellia/pseuds/LytynUponCerellia
Summary: Merlin had a plan. Of course he did. However, Arthur isn't entirely sure whether this entails throwing their lives away or not.





	

**Author's Note:**

> School is murder. Hope you're having a good day.  
> -M

"Merlin, this is a terrible idea." Arthur groaned, cursing with every fiber of his being.

Merlin only turned and flashed him a grin. "Then why did you go along with it, sire?"

"...Shut up, Merlin."

"Yes, my lord."

They were waiting to ambush a gang of bandits that had been terrorizing the West territories for a long while now. Arthur would have felt much better about the situation had he not been forced into a prickly bush along with his incessantly stubborn manservant--no wait. That was not the right word anymore. Sometimes he still had trouble remembering after so long--"You know, I didn't make you Court Sorcerer so that you could throw our lives away on a daily basis."

Merlin, the annoyance that he was, didn't appear to be fazed by the jab. "Well, I believe that this will work."

"So you have a plan?"

"Yes, I have a plan."

"Is it a good one?"

"...I have a _plan_."

"Brilliant," Arthur groaned again, wishing he could bang his head against the tree. "Please tell me the exact details of this so-called 'plan' of yours again?" "We wait for the bandits to show up," Merlin began. "They won't see us through this shrubbery, so we have the element of surprise." "Supposedly." "Do you want to hear the rest of the plan or not?" He scowled at him.

Arthur sighed loudly. "It's as if you forget I'm the King, _Mer_ lin. Even with your title, I should expect more respect from you." "Yeah, well, I have trouble remembering that sometimes," Merlin snarked. "Seeing as how you're such a prat and all."

Arthur glared at him, half-wishing that he didn't actually love this stubborn idiot as much as he did. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do about that. "You're going to pay for that one after we get back to Camelot." He thought for a moment, and reiterated. "That is, if we don't end up getting killed."

"When have I ever let you down, Arthur?" "Nearly several times, actually." "Don't make me regret saving you." "As if you ever would, Merlin. You're _such_ a girl's petticoat. Besides--" This he said almost carelessly. "--You love me." "Regrettably, I _do_ ," Merlin murmured softly, his words making Arthur feel just the slightest bit flushed, his heart pounding.

"So then what?" Arthur cleared his throat, trying to get focused again. "What do we do after the bandits show up?"

Merlin shrugged. "We warn them off. You know, 'Don't come back, stop raiding innocent villages now or else'." "And if that doesn't work?" Arthur tried not to sound skeptical, but this plan was sounding less and less plausible by the minute.

Merlin simply shrugged again. "Then...we give them one last chance. And if things begin escalating, we can send them off with a warning."

"Really? A warning? That's what you're going to call it?"

"Better than a beating."

"No, not really, _Mer_ lin."

"You come up with something better then, if you're going to complain so much," He challenged.

"I could do so much better than that. You forget who you're talking to."

"Oh, that's right. It slipped my mind completely. No, wait, I think I can recall...an absolute dollophead."

"Idiot."

"Prat!"

" _Clotpole_!"

"Well, well. What do we 'ave 'ere?"

Arthur cursed himself and Merlin internally, before looking up from where they were crouched in the bushes. It was the aforementioned bandits. Of course it was.

Their leader, a brutish man with scraggly hair grinned at them with yellowed teeth, a jagged sword in hand. Behind him were at least twenty or thirty more men, most of them armed from what Arthur could see.

This plan really was the worst ever.

Merlin and Arthur rose from out of the bushes, Merlin shaking twigs out of his hair. "Are you the bandits who have been ransacking these lands?" Arthur demanded, wishing he was on horseback rather than standing before them covered in leaves. Their leader smiled more widely. "Aye, that we are."

"Then on behalf of the kingdom of Camelot, we--" Merlin began. "--er, would...would like you to stop--"  Arthur rolled his eyes.

"--Would like you to stop your raiding of these western villages. Or else."

"'Or else' what?" The bandit leader sneered, looking at the lone pair of them. Honestly, Arthur couldn't really blame his lack of fear. "A knight and his lackey gonna stop us? That'll be the day."

"'Knight'?" Arthur repeated, raising his eyebrows. "' _Lackey_ '?" Merlin echoed furiously.

"Yeah."

"One last warning," Arthur said calmly, keeping his irritation from rising just yet. "Leave now, and never return. Or you will face a far greater penance."

"We ain't going nowhere." The leader continued on mockingly, his followers closing tight around them in a menacing circle. Arthur reached for his sword. "So I'll ask ye again. What're ye going to do?"

Merlin turned, and smiled at Arthur, who nodded back. It was time.

Merlin raised his hand and with a deafening shout, blasted five men off of their horses, sending the creatures galloping away in shock. Arthur disarmed two more with one swing of his sword, then engaged three more in a blur of strikes, fierce, open, attacks.

Around them was chaos. A few of the men had fled, but many remained, and had recovered from the onslaught of the first attack. The bandit leader pointed accusingly in Merlin's direction. "'E's a bloody sorcerer!"

"Court Sorcerer," Merlin corrected cheerfully, seemingly unfazed by the mass panic and shock. He gestured to where Arthur had just cut down four more men. "To the King of Camelot." Arthur grinned, and bashed the hilt of his sword straight into the now-stunned bandit leader's face before he could reply.

* * *

Not so many minutes later, and all of the bandits had either fled or been dealt with, thanks to Merlin's powers and Arthur's sword prowess.

"That actually worked quite well," Merlin said brightly, as they swung up onto their horses.

"You're such an optimist," Arthur rolled his eyes. "Yes, well, you like it." Merlin shot back.

"Regrettably." Arthur turned, only for his lips to meet with none other than his troublesome Court Sorcerer's. He melted into the warmth of the gesture, one hand wrapping around Merlin's waist to pull him closer.

"Come on, then." Merlin grinned as they finally broke apart. "Let's go home."

And in a slightly less skeptical attitude towards the plan-making skills of his former manservant, Arthur smiled and followed Merlin as they rode away towards the sunset.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! Please leave comments and reviews below!  
> -M


End file.
